Netflix had already embarked on gaming by developing mobile games, which have had mixed success. However, the ambitions of the SVOD platform do not stop there, and Netflix thus announces the launch of its cloud gaming service. As with films and series, the games are streamed from the American company’s servers.
“Our goal has always been to have a game for everyone, and we’re working hard to meet members where they are with an accessible, seamless, and ubiquitous service. Today, we’re taking the first step to making games playable on all the devices our members enjoy Netflix on — TVs, computers and mobiles”explains Netflix.
A feature still in closed beta
At the moment, this cloud gaming offering is still in closed beta stage and is only rolling out to a small number of users in Canada and the UK. It is available today on certain televisions. Play from a computer running Windows or macOS will also be available in the coming weeks, by connecting to netflix.com from a supported browser.
To play on its television, Netflix offers a virtual controller in the form of an application for smartphones and tablets, available on iOS, iPadOS and Android. PC and Mac players will be able to use their keyboard and mouse.
For the moment, only two games are included in the catalog of this closed beta. Members can access titles Oxenfree of Night School Studio, acquired by Netflix, and Molehew’s Mining Adventurea gem mining arcade game.
In the future, “TV games will work on select devices from our initial partners, including Amazon Fire TV streaming devices, Chromecast with Google TV, LG TV, Nvidia Shield TV, Roku devices and TVs, Samsung smart TVs, and Walmart ONN. More devices will be added over time., Netflix announces. It is not yet known when this cloud gaming service will be deployed more widely.